ID Required on Guardian Accounts

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Question:

I am opening a guardianship account. Do I need IDs from the owner (ward) or just the guardians. I do have the court papers.

Answer:

You need to obtain whatever ID information your bank's CIP instructs you to obtain. At minimum, that should include the four elements of data (name, date of birth, SSN and street address) from the guardian(s), because by regulation the guardian or guardians are your customers.

If the account may earn interest now or in the future, you should also obtain the SSN of the ward for reporting purposes.

Whether or not you will obtain full CIP information on the ward depends on your bank's policy.

First published on BankersOnline.com 1/24/11